DOJ expands investigation into Tutwiler Prison

4:50 PM,
Jan. 18, 2014

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A letter from the Department of Justice to Gov. Robert Bentley declares the conditions at a women's prison in Wetumpka unconstitutional, but the state's prison commissioner says the letter doesn't tell the whole story.

The letter, dated Friday, concerns an investigation by the special litigation section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division into allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women.

The letter states that inmates at Tutwiler "universally fear for their safety ... live in a sexualized environment with repeated and open ...